-fake stamps placed in passports
The lure of a two-week Canadian Tour with the promise of an opportunity to meet many of the country’s “important” people may have harvested as much as $7M for a `tour operator’ who has since vanished leaving 42 persons to rue their gullibility.
Colin Woolford, one of the persons who says that he was cheated of more than $150, 000, said he woke up one day in early November last year and while checking his mail he came across a letter from W.D.A.Y.L Tours. Lot 4 Old Road De Kinderen, West Coast Demerara was given as the company’s address. The letter was signed by a man Woolford has known for almost two decades and whose services he’d used before.
Woolford explained that he was not surprised to receive the letter because he’d travelled to Barbados, in 2000 and a few years before that, using the man’s services. He immediately called the man for further details on the Canada trip. However, almost a year later, Woolford and the other members of the group have lost large sums of money and ended up with a fake visa rejection stamp in their passports.
Woolford said that the tour letter was signed by the Tours Coordinator. The letter, viewed by Stabroek News, said the tour would be sponsored by the Canadian Heritage Trust in association with the Centennial College. The tour, according to the letter dated October 30, 2008, was limited to ten persons and no children were allowed.
Persons who wished to participate were advised that they would have to pay a registration fee of US$150 and would need a Canadian visa which would “be taken care of by the sponsor (conditions apply)”.
Woolford, a 42-year-old truck driver from Cornelia Ida, said he was told by the man via telephone that he was eligible for the trip and proceeded to pay the man the registration fee of $30, 000. About a week before the closing date (November 28, 2008) for paying the registration fee the man met with the group of aspiring tourists. Woolford said he was surprised to see that there were “a lot more than ten people there”.
“When I got to that meeting I was surprised because I remembered reading on that letter that the tour was only open to ten people and after a head count I realized that there were 42 people present,” Woolford said.
When asked about this the man told the group that he had spoken to his Canadian contacts and they had agreed to have the group number increased, however, they would be required to pay some additional money. Woolford said he paid the man an additional $36, 500 which would cover additional costs for accommodation, meals and other “administration” costs.
In April this year, Woolford said, the Tours Coordinator had them fill out forms for Canadian visas and said he was taking them to Trinidad where “it could be processed faster”. A few weeks after that Stephenson told the group that he was having a hard time getting flights because June was a “peak period”.
“He told us that he was assured by his contact that we would be guaranteed seats and tickets for US$800 if we paid half the amount in advance,” Woolford explained, “I was one of the persons who paid him half the money. In fact I paid him $82, 000.”
In early June, 2009 Woolford said he received a letter purportedly from the Canadian High Commission in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The letter said that his visa had been rejected. There was also a rejection stamp in his passport. Woolford said he later learnt that all the other members of group had received similar letters and stamps in their passports.
Fake rejection stamp
A woman, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that she was one of the persons who refused to pay money for the ticket and was the first to discover that the stamps in their passports, purportedly from the Canadian High Commission, were fakes.
“I learnt of this man through a friend and had taken a Barbados trip with him so I decided to take the Canada trip,” she explained, “imagine I trusted this man so much I gave him all my personal documents including my passport.”
The first week in June, she said, the Tours Coordinator sent her documents and the fake embassy letter with a minibus conductor. She was able to determine that the letter and stamp were fakes by comparing it to similar documents her husband had recently received. This was later confirmed by a senior immigration official.
“After I figure out what was happening I went to the police station and the matter was reported but the police who was handling it didn’t take us seriously at first,” the woman reported, “it wasn’t until weeks later that she took statements from us.”
During this time the man showed up at the police station twice and dates were set for him to repay the money but this never happened, the woman related. The man was placed on station bail and a final date of September 30 was set for him to repay the money owed to the forty-two persons.
“September 30 come and gone and we still haven’t gotten our money,” the woman said. “We went to the man’s De Kinderen home and it was locked up and we were told that he left with his family for a holiday in the US and never returned.”
Several other victims of the bogus Canada tour told this newspaper that they either knew the man or were related to someone who had used him before. Most said that they didn’t have much knowledge about visas or the process to obtain one so they just “went with the flow”.
Police, several victims also said, have not said anything to them about the matter for weeks and they don’t feel the matter was taken as seriously as it should’ve been. Stabroek News could not reach relevant police officials for a comment last evening. (Sara Bharrat)
